The present invention relates generally to refrigeration devices with dispensers, such as water dispensers.
Refrigeration appliances with dispensers, such as door mounted water dispensers are well known, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,804,974 and 6,763,976. In such arrangements, the dispenser is located in a door of the appliance, accessible only from an exterior of the appliance. This requires that water and electronics pathways are routed from the back of the refrigerator, then inside the cabinet (to the cooling reservoir for the water), back outside the cabinet (room temperature) to the bottom hinge area. Depending on the swing of the door selected by the user, the water and electric lines are routed through one of the hinges and into the door, past special skirts to prevent wear to the lines when the door opens and closes. This type of assembly requires multiple sub-assemblies and routing of both water and electrical lines along the sides of the cabinet and then through the hinges.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,218 discloses a refrigeration appliance having a dispenser resting on a floor of a compartment and extending through a contoured recess in the upper door. No drip tray is provided for this appliance, and no electronic controls are associated with the dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,477 discloses a side-by-side refrigeration appliance where a door for one of the compartments has a portion positioned below a portion of a door for the other compartment, even through the doors are side-by-side. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, a dispenser is located in a central region between the two doors and in between the overlying portions. No drip tray is provided in an openable door for this embodiment. It is not disclosed whether any electronic controls are associated with the dispenser.
U.S. Published application US2003/0090890 discloses a refrigeration appliance having a mullion assembly positioned in the interior of the appliance that includes an electronic control. The mullion assembly is not accessible from the exterior of the appliance, and can only be accessed when the appliance door is open. The mullion assembly includes lighting assemblies for providing illumination above and below the mullion assembly.
It would be an improvement in the art if a refrigeration appliance were provided with a dispenser which is accessible from the exterior or the interior of the appliance, depending on the open or closed position of the appliance door, and wherein a drip tray is provided for the dispenser in the door, which may be moved out of the way when the door is opened.